The field of the invention is xerography, and the invention relates more particularly to toner cartridges of the type commonly used with laser printers.
Typically, when the toner cartridge of a laser printer has been used for 2,000 to 2,500 copies, the toner is exhausted. Most laser printer manufacturers direct the user to discard the old toner cartridge, which also includes a magnetic roller, a cleaning strip, gears and other parts, and purchase a new cartridge which is filled with toner.
This step is expensive and wasteful in that many useful parts are discarded merely because the toner is expended. One cannot, however, simply replace the toner since substantial amounts would leak out during shipping.